


Wireless Connection

by N_Peggy (RJPhaNTom)



Series: Mileven Week 2018 [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: El has no powers AU, F/M, Fluffy, Language, Mileven Week 2018, Modern AU, Rating Might Change, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 04:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16654234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RJPhaNTom/pseuds/N_Peggy
Summary: Jane 'El' Hopper has been communicating with the elusive Paladin ever since she met him on an online chat room and slowly begins to fall in love with him.Meanwhile, Mike Wheeler is going through some life changes as he moves from the big city of Chicago to the small town of Hawkins after his parents' divorce, talking to MissEggo011 about his struggles while simultaneously falling in love with her.After a mix-up on the first day back from Winter Break, El and Mike somehow end up with the other's phone. Will this lead them to unravel the other's secret identity behind the screen?Coincides with Mileven Week Day 2: Fate, will be turned into a series.





	Wireless Connection

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, but then I went overboard with the writing and decided "maybe I should make this into a full story with multiple chapters because this has so much potential." 
> 
> Originally meant to be for Mileven Week 2018, but the first chapter might be the only one that will coincide with it, in this case it's the theme of 'Fate'
> 
> And so, here we are!
> 
> Like many, many, many of my works, I have no idea when I will post the next chapter or how long this will be. So enjoy it while you can!

It was a cold, Friday night in the Hopper household. El Hopper and her best friend Max Mayfield were having their weekly sleepover a few days before school was back in session from Winter Break. Her dad, Chief of Police Jim Hopper was busy working on a case, leaving the girls to spend their sleepover at home while he stayed at the police station for the night.

The two teens were in the living room on the couch, pizza boxes strewn all over the floor, sitting through a movie of El’s choosing. While the brunette normally chose a romantic film, instead she chose something a little different. Max didn’t mind the change of genre, but she was suspicious as to WHY her friend would choose a movie she thought was deemed nerdy. Max spared a glance at El, and groaned when she noticed her friend was doing anything BUT watch the movie in front of them.

El, meanwhile, had her thumbs rapidly write out a response to a meme she had received from her online pen pal simply known as Paladin, and that was all Max needed to connect the dots on who influenced the movie of choice that night.

El had met Paladin (short for **_‘Paladin_Solo’_** ) on an online chat room, under the name **_‘MissEggo011’_** , the two bonding over their mutual love for all things geeky. Aside from the fan-like tendencies; debates they always had about what characters, films, ships etc. were better, sending each other the occasional meme, or suggesting movies or television shows to watch, they felt the most comfortable just getting know each other a little better while not revealing their identities.

Just earlier that year, Paladin revealed that his parents had gotten a divorce, giving El the opportunity to talk about the death of her mom. They spent hours upon hours messaging each other to lift each other’s spirits, giving words of comfort.

When it came down to it, El would consider Paladin one of her best friends aside from Max, even admitting to herself that she had a small crush on him. Unfortunately, she knew she couldn’t do anything about it, since Paladin happened to have a girlfriend that he would talk about on occasion and how so in love he was with her.

“Earth to El,” Max waved her hand in between El’s face and her phone. “What?”  
El looked over, eyebrow arched. “Let me guess: the elusive Paladin is messaging you to confess his undying love,” Max teased, eyes still all over at El’s phone. El scoffed, pulling her phone away from her friend’s gaze. “No, he just sent me something funny.”

“Did he send another meme? Because that’s essentially our relationship too,” Max said with a mouthful of popcorn in her mouth, gulping it down. “Yes, but sometimes you don’t even laugh at them,” El replied.

“When exactly are you two ever going to meet in real life? The flirting is killing me!” El rolled her eyes. “He lives on the other side of the country, so never.” she set her phone aside.

“But seriously, of all the boys you’ve chosen to fall in love with in your seventeen years of living, you go for the one you met online, who’s identity continues to remain a complete mystery.” El scoffed at her friend’s accusation. “I’m not in love with him! We just exchange memes, movie and TV show suggestions while also talking about our mutual love for Stephen King,” she defended, cheeks flushed pink.

“Sounds like ‘love’ to me,” Max teased.

“I told you before: he has a girlfriend, remember? So, all the ‘flirting’ you claim he must be doing could just be classified as him being friendly. Also, what’s wrong with having a guy who’s just a friend?” she added, acting completely in denial from Max’s standpoint.

“Nothing! It’s just the way you and Paladin interact with each other; the way your face lights up when he texts you.” Max said. “How long have you been messaging each other again, exactly? A year?”

“353 days, actually.” Max eyed her, blue eyes narrowed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well shit, how exactly is that supposed to convince me that you don’t have a crush on this guy?” “What, you know how detail oriented I can be,” El mumbled a reply, as she grabbed a handful of popcorn and M&Ms from the bowl set between the two girls and shoving the food into her mouth.

“One word: bullshit.” Max mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Alright, fine, I do like him. But here’s the thing, Max, he lives all the way in Chicago. It’s not like he’ll appear in town all of a sudden.” El shrugged, sounding somewhat forlorn, even if she was just stating her own facts. “Just, forget about it. Long story short: We won’t meet in real life. I’m content with just knowing him this way.” El finished.

“Is that why you gave him your phone number? It’s the 21st Century, for Christ’s sake! You can easily call, hell, video chat with the guy!”

“W-what? No! I can’t do that,” The brunette sputtered in protest, shaking her head. “And why not?” Max demanded. El went quiet, biting her thumbnail before she spoke. “I don’t know, Max. Things might be different.”

“Different, how?”

“Well, what if after he sees me in real life he wouldn’t want to talk to me anymore? I like having conversations with him and I don’t want to mess things up.” Max pulled her friend into a hug, El leaning into her touch.

“Okay, I get it. Whatever relationship you’ve built with Paladin is important. But if he isn’t willing to get to know the real life you and chooses MissEggo011, then he isn’t worth it. Plus, you also have to worry about the fact that he might be some sort of pedophile or a serial killer too, now that I think about it,” Max added. El laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right about that,” she giggled.

“Maybe we should let fate decide if you and him should meet in real life,” Max said, trying her best to keep her tone serious. El’s laugh only grew loud. “Yeah, right, like he’ll just up and call me right now,” she said in between snickers, prompting both girls to laugh pretty hard, only for the laughter to cease the moment El’s phone rang.

The girls froze, looking at each other before El picked up the phone. “H-Hello?”

“Hey, kid, you sound nervous. Something wrong?” El breathed a sigh of relief once she heard her dad’s gruff voice. “No, not at all, dad. Max and I are on a bit of a sugar high from all the movie snacks, plus the movie’s a real knee slapper, that we’re still laughing!” she explained, going for a half-truth. Max, meanwhile was hiding her snickers, mouthing ‘knee slapper?’ at El, who slapped her knee to get her to shut up.

“I see, well, I’m just calling to check in. This case is really biting my ass,” El giggled. “Anyway, if there’s anything you need, promise you’ll phone me right away,” “I promise. Love you, dad.”

“Love you too, El. Goodnight,” he then hanged up. “Knee slapper.” Max giggled. “I panicked!” El pouted before she joined in on the laughter. “I honestly thought that was Paladin.”

“Me too. I wouldn’t mind, honestly.” Max shrugged.

The laughter died down once the movie ends, El looking over at Max, who was now asleep. Shaking her head, she turned the TV off, draping a couch throw over her sleeping friend before she quietly cleaned up, putting the leftover pizza away and throwing the boxes and making the living room look somewhat presentable before she settled down for the night.

Maybe Max was right, she thought. If they’ve been communicating for this long, then she should at least know what he looks like, or sounds like. But then came the lingering thoughts in her head; what if Paladin WAS some sort of pedophile or a serial killer? Would a reveal make her an easy target?

She could always ask her dad to perform background check on her online friend if that were the case, but she shook her head at how ridiculous the idea sounded, even if it might be true. El stared at the ceiling, letting her thoughts wander about Paladin, just as her eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep.

Only to be awoken by a familiar buzzing sounds about an hour later. El pawed for her phone, finally grasping it in her hand and wondering who the hell was calling her in the middle of the night, only to choke on her own spit when she read the caller ID: Paladin.

He wanted to talk? For the first time ever in the 353 days since she’s met and known him? She made a quick swipe for her earphones that laid on the coffee table, slipping them on and plugging them into her phone before accepting the call.

A moment of silence passed before she spoke. “H-Hello?” “Hi, um, Miss Eggo, it’s Paladin, I hope I didn’t wake you,” El’s eyes widened in surprise when she heard his voice, her heart pounding. This was the first time they were communicating verbally. She spared a quick glance over at Max, who was still sleeping like the dead before looking back at her phone.

“Hi! Nice to finally hear you speak.” She smiled. “And no, you didn’t wake me up.” She added, lying so that he wouldn’t feel bad.

“I promise this isn’t some kind of prank call or anything like that. I just needed somebody to talk to.” El frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Well, for starters, remember how I told you my parents had gotten a divorce?”

“Yes,”

“Yeah, well, mom had won the custody battle. Because of that, we’re moving, and not just to another part of the town I live in, I mean to another state to get away from my father. ‘To start fresh’ she says. I tell my girlfriend, who then dumps me on the spot like the news was nothing.” El could hear the frustration in his voice, feeling helpless that she couldn’t do much as a friend.

“That’s awful, when are you moving?” She didn’t think to ask where.

Paladin groaned. “We leave on Sunday. I mean, my sisters and I had known for awhile that we would be moving but we didn’t get notified until maybe a month ago? My sister’s away at college right now too, but mom says she’ll come by every once in awhile.” he sighs through his nose.

“How do you feel about it?”

“I’m not looking forward to it, to be honest. We’ll be staying with my grandparents for a bit too while we settle in.” There was a beat of silence. “I’m sorry, I must be boring you with all of my rambling.”

“No! No, you aren’t. Not at all. This shouldn’t be any different than any other conversation we’ve had in the past, Paladin.” El shook her head, even though he couldn’t see her,

“What would you do? You usually give good advice,” El fiddled with her blanket between her fingers. “I’d follow your mom’s advice, Paladin. It’s not the best thing to be stuck in the past like this. Take this as an opportunity to start fresh too. Change can be a good thing, and obviously, it shouldn’t happen so fast, but just take small steps.” Paladin was quiet on the other end, and El was hoping he was taking his suggestions to heart. “I, uh, hope that helped.” El said, still fiddling with the blanket draped over her legs.

“A little. Thanks, MissEggo-” “El. My name’s El. Spelt 'E-L', not 'E-L-L-E,'” she blurted out, feeling confident enough to share her name. “I’ll definitely change your name in my contacts.” he replied and her heart pounded faster than it did initially.

“Now that you know my name, what’s yours then?”

“Well, my name’s M-” And just like that, her phone died before she could find out Paladin’s name. “Shit!” she hissed. She was so close! Maybe now wasn’t the best time, she thought. With a sigh, she plugged her phone in to charge, shooting Paladin a quick message, apologizing for the sudden hang up before she went to sleep.

* * *

 

Mike’s brows furrowed in confusion when Miss Eggo, er, El’s line cut off.

“Hello? El?” he whispered before hanging up, setting his phone down. He glanced over at his baby sister, Holly snuggled up next to their mother, Karen as they slept, sharing the couch.

Laying back down, he stared at the ceiling, the floor cold beneath him as he lay on top of a sleeping bag he had volunteered to sleep in for the night. He let out a sigh, the break-up with Jennifer and the move itself beginning to take a toll on him, although he’ll admit that the talk he had with El really helped.

But maybe it was a mistake. What if him calling her had scared her? What if this changed for the worse? He couldn’t bear to live that down. Drowning in his thoughts, he was shaken from his reverie when his phone buzzed, signaling a notification. He nearly dropped his phone the minute he picked it up and emitted a sigh of relief when he found a message from El.

 _“Sorry, my phone died! And I was starting to get a little bit tired anyway. I hope everything works out for you. If you need someone to talk to, you know who to call,”_ She had texted. Chuckling to himself, he typed out a reply.

 _“Must’ve been because of the memes I sent,”_ he texted back teasingly, a small smile on his lips. _“Anyway, thanks for listening to my rambles. Good night,”_

 _“Haha, don’t worry about it. Good night!”_ she replied.

For the longest time, he wanted to meet the face behind Miss Eggo, who she was, where she lived (not in a creepy way). Meeting her on the online chat room when he was having a particularly shitty day was practically fate. Growing up in a small town in Maine, he didn’t have many friends. He was deemed too nerdy, or lame by his peers. Jennifer, happened to have been his only friend before they started dating.

As time went on, however, they started to grow apart. Jennifer became a part of the popular crowd, and Mike remained at the bottom of the social food chain. They would fight constantly, only to make up after a few minutes, hours, days even. No matter the social hierarchy they were split into, their relationship had remained constant.

The news of him moving following the divorce of his parents was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

A month before the move, Jennifer dumped him, closing him off from her life. He tried to text, call, even see her even. Before Christmas break, he noticed her dating someone new, completely ignoring his existence. It was like a slap to the face. His one and only friend betraying him this way. As a result, he decided to do the same, deleting her number from his phone, getting rid of everything sentimental that was given to him by her. It was for the best after all.

Talking to Jennifer had been a norm, they would stay up late talking about random things; the future, their aspirations, their dreams, but he felt alone now that she had decided that he wasn’t worth her time anymore. The move was a couple days away, and he needed to talk to someone.

When he saw El’s phone number in his contacts, he was wrestling with his thoughts. ‘Was now a good time to call her? She might be asleep!’ he said to himself, but he thought ‘screw it,’ and called her number. His heart pounded from the nerves until she picked up, the tension released as he poured his feelings out to her and she listened with no judgement.

Talking to El that night had been the best decision he’s made since his life turned upside down. She makes him laugh on a daily basis with the memes, and jokes, and he had someone to talk to about his love for Stephen King’s works while also engaging in debates. He thought she seemed so down to earth, as she didn’t treat him like he belonged at the bottom of the food chain; didn’t toss him aside like he was trash. For the first time in a long time, he felt whole.

“Mikey?” Mike turned to Holly, who was rubbing her eyes from sleep. “Hey, Hols. What are you doing up?” he whispered. “I had a nightmare,” she whimpered. Mike opened his arms and his sister ran into them, snuggling onto her big brother’s lap.

“What kind of nightmare?”

“There was a big, scary clown, chasing me. He said he was going to eat me!” she whimpered. “That’s what happens when you watch ‘It’ with me,” Mike teased. “It’s not funny,” Holly pouted to the point that tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Don’t worry, Pennywise won’t hurt you. He’s not real,” he kissed her forehead to comfort her.

“Promise?”

“Promise,”

“Why are you up? Did you have a nightmare too?” Holly asked, wiping her tears away. “No, remember Miss Eggo? I talked to her for the first time tonight.” his sister gasped. “Is she going to be your new girlfriend?” she asked excitedly. “What? No!”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know her personally, Holly.” Mike yawned, trying his best to fight off sleep for a little while.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, I don’t know who she is in real life. She’s just somebody I met online, but she’s become a good friend.” “Maybe when we move to Howlin’ she’s there!” Holly exclaimed with hope in her features. Mike chuckled. “It’s Hawkins, Hols” he corrected. “And who knows? How about you and I try to get some sleep? I’ll protect you from all the monsters,” he yawned.

“Okay, Mikey. Goodnight,” The two Wheeler siblings soon curled up close to each other and fell asleep soundly.


End file.
